BJ at 10 weeks

Week of March 22nd, 2009

We will be heading back to Kansas City today. It's been a long 10 days and BJ and I both are ready to go home. We've had a great time in China, but Chip misses us and we miss him dearly, so we will be happy when we reach American soil!

What's new with BJ this week:

Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature. He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.If you could see the baby, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.

In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches!!

At my prenatal visit next week I will be able to hear BJ's heartbeat with a Doppler stethoscope, a handheld ultrasound device that your practitioner places on your belly. Many women say that the beating of their baby's tiny heart sounded like the thunder of galloping horses and hearing it for the first time was very moving. I wonder what the experience will be like for us? Before I got pregnant, my uterus was the size of a small pear or my fist. By this week, it's as big as a grapefruit. I think I might be shopping for maternity wear soon. Even though I'm not there yet. my regular clothes are feeling uncomfortably tight and I've had to buy new bras! My belly is bloated and my waist (what waist!!) is expanding. So, low rise options sound really good about now and would probably provide some much-needed comfort :)